Beatlemania kicked off in America 50 years ago. But the Beatles phenomenon as we know it — with
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr — might never have happened without
some good old-fashioned U.S. red tape.

Starr revealed in an interview yesterday on Today that, while still a teenager, he considered
chasing his musical dreams in Texas, not his hometown of Liverpool, England.

“All the music we loved came from America,” he recalled. “At ... 18, 19, I tried to immigrate to
America because of Lightnin’ Hopkins, a blues singer. I wanted to go to Texas because that’s where
he was from.”

A factory worker at the time, Starr visited a consulate to start the process, but the paperwork
proved overwhelming.

“They gave me a load of forms to fill in. ... I filled them in, took them back, and then he gave
me more forms,” he said. “I gave up.”

Starr joined the Beatles in 1962 at age 22, replacing dummer Pete Best.